Sunday marks the start of the NFL's 76th season, with new
teams in Jacksonville and Carolina, and two old teams in new
cities -- the Rams in St. Louis and the Raiders returning to
Oakland. Here's a roundup of what's going on around the league:
THEY'RE SOLD OUT: In Oakland, the TV blackout for Sunday's
Raiders-Chargers game has been lifted as 14,000 single-game
tickets were sold between Sunday and yesterday (Koury & Martinez,
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 9/1). A rally will be held today in
Oakland's Jack London Square celebrating the team's return (S.F.
CHRONICLE, 9/1).
THEY'RE BLACKED OUT: The Eagles' season opener against the
Bucs will be blacked out in the Delaware Valley, as more than
6,000 seats remain unsold at Veterans Stadium. This is the
second time in three years an Eagles opener has failed to sell
out. NFL TV Coordinator Val Pinchbeck said more than one-third
(88 of 224) NFL games were blacked out in home markets in '94
(Mike Bruton, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 9/1). In Seattle, the
Seahawks had sold only 50,500 tickets as of Wednesday for
Sunday's opener against the Chiefs in the 66,400-seat Kingdome.
Last year, five Seahawks home games were blacked out (TACOMA NEWS
TRIBUNE, 8/31). Other blackouts this weekend: Atlanta,
Indianapolis, New Orleans.
THEY'RE LOCKED IN, FOR THIS WEEK: TX District Judge William
Bell yesterday granted Harris County a temporary restraining
order against the Oilers barring them from playing home games
outside the Astrodome. A full injunction hearing will be held
September 13 that could force the team to stay in the dome
through '97. County officials say the court action was due to
concerns that the team may "try a repeat of the preseason
episode" when a game was cancelled due to poor turf conditions
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/1).
THEY'RE ISSUING A WARNING: Daniel Connell, the Jaguars
Senior VP/Marketing said yesterday that the "people of Houston
need to realize the fact that the Oilers could leave," and that
bad feelings toward Owner Bud Adams should not "overrule any
business logic." Connell warned of the difficulties of getting a
new team (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/1).
THEY'RE CLEARING THE AIR: The Jaguars Foundation has
received a grant to promote anti-smoking initiatives in and
around the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. The Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation gave the team $137,000 to develop and install
anti-smoking signs in the stadium concourse, including one on the
center panel of the North scoreboard. The program will also put
anti-smoking messages on 50,000 cards distributed by the team.
The Jaguars do not accept tobacco advertising or sell tobacco
products (Jaguars).
THEY'RE TEACHING: CBS profiled the Jets' "Football 101" --
a class aimed at women. Jets exec Douglas Miller: "We've found
studies that show women are the fastest growing group of fans
that there are" ("CBS This Morning," 9/1).

"Pat Riley believed he was going to be released from his
obligations as Knicks coach in exchange for silence about his
coaching plans" during the final stages of ITT's purchase of the
Garden, according to this morning's N.Y. TIMES. Mike Wise
reports "that was the reason" Riley began to negotiate with the
Heat before he resigned as Knicks coach in June. According to
two people "familiar with the case," MSG President Dave Checketts
"did not want ITT to know the Knicks might lose Riley, fearing
that such a revelation might affect the company's $1.01 billion
dollar purchase. ...In return, Checketts would allow Riley out of
the final year of his contract after the sale was consummated."
However, when Riley asked to be released after the season, the
team refused, sources say. The sale of MSG's holdings from
Viacom to an ITT-Cablevision partnership became official March
13. A Knicks official tells the TIMES that "Checketts had told
Riley to 'not make noise about possibly leaving' while the
purchase was still in progress." However, that source adds that
"no promises" were made to Riley regarding a release. NBA
Commissioner David Stern is expected to rule today on charges by
the Knicks that the Heat tampered with Riley (N.Y. TIMES, 9/1).

Nets President Jon Spoelstra, whose marketing programs
helped the team set box-office records, resigned yesterday. In
this morning's N.Y. TIMES, Mike Wise reports that Spoelstra
sometimes clashed "with an ownership resistant to change" and may
have upset some owners with his "candidness." Two Nets officials
said Spoelstra was not forced out. Spoelstra had pushed for the
Nets to change their name, to either Swamp Dragons or Fire
Dragons, but ownership nixed the change at the last minute.
Spoelstra, "frustrated" with "the malaise that he felt permeated
the franchise," also sent a memo to ownership criticizing player
personnel decisions. Spoelstra, without a contract since March,
had expected to sign a more lucrative pact and was disappointed
when the Nets delayed (N.Y. TIMES, 9/1).

The Pirates have given DC attorney Bart Fisher until next
Wednesday to come up with the financing to complete a deal to buy
the club, according to Mark Maske in this morning's WASHINGTON
POST. Fisher's group says they will keep the team in Pittsburgh,
initially, "but in recent weeks," Maske writes, "he has talked
about the possibility of moving the club" to the DC-area. Fisher
met with Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and team officials
yesterday, and told the AP that he intends to stay in Pittsburgh.
However, Maske reports that Fisher said earlier this month that
"no buyer will enter into that situation without an exit
strategy. ... They're in a bad situation, they've been on the
market a year now. That should tell you something." Sources
tell the POST that Fisher has been in contact with the VA Stadium
Authority and told them to "be ready, because I'm close with the
Pirates" (WASHINGTON POST, 9/1). If Fisher fails to meet the
team's Wednesday deadline, Sacramento newspaper heir Kevin
McClatchy will get an exclusive two-week period to negotiate
(AP/Minneapolis STAR-TRIBUNE, 9/1). Fisher heads Capital
Baseball, one of two groups trying to bring baseball to the
DC/Northern VA area.